The present invention concerns a device for discontinuously advancing stock or work along or in discontinuously operating production machinery, a press for example. The stock or work is gripped by grips distributed along parallel and separated rails. The grip-supporting rails extend in the direction the stock or work advances in. The rails have three different motions, specifically back and forth together in the direction the stock or work advances in, together and apart transversely at at least one essentially right angle to that direction, and up and down together. A separate drive mechanism discontinuously governs each motion.
A device for advancing work with parallel rails is known from German 3 329 900 C2. The rails move in the three dimensions subject to advancing, tensioning, and lifting mechanisms driven by separate mechanisms.
What is unsatisfactory in this known device is that the drive mechanisms take up a lot of space. Their motors extend out at the side. The mechanics are complicated and result in relatively high inertia, which slows down the rails and wears out the mechanisms prematurely. Precision is increasingly difficult to ensure.